Arnaud Beltrame, Hero-Martyr Of France

France has produced a second martyr — the first was Father Jacques Hamel, slain at the altar while saying mass — in the contemporary battle against radical Islam. From Familie Chretienne, this news about Arnaud Beltrame, the French gendarme who willingly exchanged places with a hostage held by an ISIS militant. (Translated by Google.)

It turns out that the lieutenant-colonel was a practicing Catholic. The fact is that he did not hide his faith, and that he shone, he testified. We can say that his act of offering is consistent with what he believed. He went to the end of his service to the country and to the end of his testimony of faith. To believe is not only to adhere to a doctrine. It is first to love God and his neighbor, and to testify of his faith concretely in everyday life. In the happy or unhappy, even dramatic circumstances of our lives. The woman, to whom he offered to take his place to save her, took on a particular humanity. Arnaud Beltrame was suddenly close to her to take his place. The anonymous person who, suddenly, becomes close,

More from a different Familie Chretienne article, this one an interview with Father Jean-Baptiste, canon of the Lagrasse Abbey. The priest had been preparing the lieutenant-colonel for a church wedding to his wife Marielle, to whom he was civilly married two years ago. He gave the mortally wounded Lt. Col. Beltrame last rites. (Trans. by Google):

“It is the chance of a meeting during a visit to our abbey, Historical Monument, that I meet Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame and Marielle, with whom he just got married on August 27, 2016. We very quickly and they asked me to prepare them for the religious wedding that I had to celebrate near Vannes on June 9th. We spent many hours working on the basics of married life for almost two years. I had just blessed their home on December 16th and we were finalizing their canonical marriage record. The very beautiful declaration of intention of Arnaud reached me 4 days before her heroic death. This young couple regularly came to the abbey to participate in masses, services and teachings, especially to a group of homes, ND of Cana. They were part of the Narbonne team. They came again last Sunday.

Intelligent, sporty, voluble and lively, Arnaud spoke readily of his conversion. Born into a family with little practice, he lived a genuine conversion around 2008, at almost 33 years old. He receives the first communion and the confirmation after 2 years of catechumenate, in 2010.

After a pilgrimage to Sainte-Anne-d’Auray in 2015, where he asks the Virgin Mary to meet the woman of his life, he became friends with Marielle, whose faith is deep and discreet. The engagement was celebrated at the Breton abbey of Timadeuc at Easter 2016.

Passionate about the gendarmerie, he has always had a passion for France, his greatness, his history, his Christian roots that he rediscovered with his conversion. By indulging in the place of hostages, he is probably animated with passion for his officer’s heroism, because for him, being a policeman meant protecting. But he knows the incredible risk he takes. He also knows the promise of religious marriage he made to Marielle, who is already his wife and loves him tenderly, I am a witness. So ? Was he allowed to take such a risk? It seems to me that only his faith can explain the madness of this sacrifice which is today the admiration of all. He knew as Jesus told us, that ” He does not there is no greater love than giving one’s life for one’s friends. »( Jn15, 13). He knew that if his life began to belong to Marielle, it was also to God, to France, to his brothers in danger of death. I believe that only a Christian faith animated by charity could ask for this superhuman sacrifice.

I was able to join him at the hospital in Carcassonne around 9pm last night. The gendarmes and the doctors or nurses opened the way with remarkable delicacy. He was alive but unconscious. I was able to give him the sacrament of the sick and the apostolic blessing on the dying of death. Marielle alternated these beautiful liturgical formulas. We were Friday of the Passion, just before the opening of Holy Week. I had just prayed the office of none and the Stations of the Cross for him. I ask the caregiver if he can have a Marian medal, that of the rue du Bac de Paris, near him. Comprehensive and professional, a nurse, stares at her shoulder. I could not marry him as an article awkwardly said, because he was unconscious.

Arnaud will never have carnal children. But his astonishing heroism will, I believe, inspire many imitators, ready to give of themselves to France and her Christian joy.

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75 Responses to Arnaud Beltrame, Hero-Martyr Of France

Marie,
In France a civil marriage is required– the state does not recognize church rites. Also, I believe the church recognizes legal marriages performed by other rites including civil rites as perfectly valid marriages (the couple is not “living in sin”) however the marriage is not blessed with God’s sacramental grace which is why converts are urged to also have their marriages celebrated in church even if they have been married for many years. (Married converts to Orthodoxy sometimes also do this.)

On the larger topic, this gentleman’s actions remind us all that even in our dull and dire age, something yet lives in the human soul that inspires us to the true and uncreated light. Memory Eternal!

@What posts here occasionally says: March 25, 2018 at 1:11 pm
“A married man in his 40s, he left behind no children. None. That is regrettable far beyond the sacrifice of his life. If the French can’t be bothered to have children for a French future, what did his sacrifice really mean?”

Uh, that he laid down his life for another human being? Do you really believe that a person’s life means nothing and can mean nothing if they don’t produce children? What then does that mean for all of the priests and nuns who serve the Church?

The nasty comments on this thread are truly unbelievable. If you want to know where people get the idea that some Christians are down-right mean, this would be a prime example. I would sure like to know how many of the people trashing this man on this thread have risked their lives to save someone else as he did. My guess is not a single one.

Yes, I do find some of the comments kind of mean. But now I’m going to make a mean observation too: this hero’s sacrifice makes the current political leadership of the USA look so much worse by comparison. Can you imagine any of the following national figures doing anything even one-one hundredth as selfless and brave as what this man did? It’s just impossible to think of Trump, Clinton (either one), Pelosi, Bannon, Ryan, McConnell, Schumer, etc, ever in their lives living or dying on this level. Trump especially, but geez, all of them.

Thank you Rod. I shall stand forth in my Australian Anglican Church and humbly thank God for his life and self-sacrifice against the forces of evil. Truly he stands with Maximilian Kolbe.
And to those who have trashed his marital arrangements, complained that he has not fathered children, and is a sinner, I say this: I rebuke you in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Ask God’s forgiveness for your blind lack of charity and your trashing of the reputation of conservative Christians.

Sara, it’s painfully obvious–no children, no France. Not concerned about the status of his marriage, that’s a red herring. The people who killed him will out-populate the rest of France in just one generation. His death, while valorous, was futile.

The Church does not recognize civil marriages between baptized Catholics as having any validity whatsoever. They are non-binding and non-sacramental.

Pointing this fact out is not mean or hyperlegalistic. It’s just a fact that bears on the question of martyrdom for the Faith. It doesn’t take away from Beltrame’s act of heroism. However, if you’re going to call the man a martyr for the Faith, that’s a different matter. I suggest you talk to a canonist to find out more.

This thread shows clearly that puritanism and legalism are two serious spiritual illnesses.

Having said that, we should not judge the lives of others, especially when we are tempted to apply to others the rod of our own sinfulness.

There may have been many reasons why LTC Beltrame and his wife had been civilly married before their religious marriage. None of them authorizes anyone to accuse them of being unchaste.

I understand that this stuff can be hardly understandable in the US, but in Civil Law Countries such as France this is not surprising at all, and I can bring up several examples of the same in France and Italy.

E.g., if a couple had invested their money to build a home, they would want to make sure their inheritance is safe. Under Civil Code laws, the surviving spouse has an exclusive lifelong right to inhabit the family’s home, even though other surviving members of the family inherit by law 1/4 of the property. In this way the surviving spouse will own 7/8 of the property and cannot be evicted by the other heirs, e.g., in case they wanted to sell the property.

In the case of cohabitation, absent a (costly) will, the surviving partner will not enjoy any inheritance rights. She will just own the half of the estate she already own and have no exclusive rights of residence.

So, there are serious reasons to marry civilly as soon as possible if you are sure of your lifelong commitment, while preparing yourself for a religious marriage.

What you note of civil-law countries, is just as true in the United States, where civil marriage and ecclesiastical marriages are distinct institutions, but may be “combined,” as it were, in a religious ceremony. It happens all the time in the U.S. where people are “married” or married in one domain but not the other. You can even be religiously married without being civilly such. (Many older couples do this in order to preserve their social security benefits, for instance.)

“This thread shows clearly that puritanism and legalism are two serious spiritual illnesses.” Thank you, Giuseppe Scalas for the succinct comment. As an American, I would add what your Italian manners would not allow: “especially in American culture.”

The Church does not recognize civil marriages between baptized Catholics as having any validity whatsoever. They are non-binding and non-sacramental.

They are certainly non-sacramental– I said as much earlier. Only a marriage done in a sacramental Church is sacramental (duh). However any legally valid form of marriage creates a true marriage as long as the partners can licitly be wed under canon law. They are NOT fornicating– they are man and wife, although their marriage may be unblessed by the sacrament, and there may be some issue the Church can take with that. But to argue otherwise is to suggest that the majority of married people on this planet are not married because the Catholic Church did not perform the rite, and indeed before there was a Catholic Sacrament of Marriage no one ever had a valid marriage– which is total nonsense. For a very long time in fact the Church regarded as valid any “plighting of the troth” between partners who could canonically marry, whether it was done by the Church’s rite and whether or not it was even made public. (Eventually that was changed to require a public declaration of the union.) Marriage was seen as beginning with the betrothal and consumation, and children conceived after the contract but before a church rite were regarded as legitimate.

Re: I’m talking about widespread acceptance where most people were married in a Church not the first time ever some elites were.

That’s not what you said. As I explained above the Christian church did not require church weddings and even recognized secret marriages until the problems inherent in that practice motivated a change in the rules. However the Sacrament of marriage does go back further than the late Middle Ages.

“But to argue otherwise is to suggest that the majority of married people on this planet are not married because the Catholic Church did not perform the rite”

No, this rule applies only to Catholics.

“before there was a Catholic Sacrament of Marriage no one ever had a valid marriage– which is total nonsense.”

There was always a sacrament of Marriage. The sacrament is confected by the couple, not the Church minister. Hence secret marriages, also, are valid. However clearly a civil union is not a secret marriage. Google the canon laws about it.

I am sorry if some people have viewed my comment as harsh or critical of Arnaud and his civil wife Marielle.

I did not intend to throw rocks at them, or be fussy about canon law for the sake of argument. I raised the distinction between Arnaud and St Max Kolbe solely because there was a clear *apparent* difference in the way they lived their lives up to their respective heroic sacrifices of their lives (and that has impact on whether Arnaud can be declared a martyr or saint).

Giuseppe – Most western countries treat religious ministers as civil marriage celebrants, so the civil marriage is contracted at the end of the religious marriage service (when the couple sign the civil documents off to one side). Some nations require civil marriage first – my grandparents had to be civilly married first in Netherlands, but told their grandkids clearly they didn’t live/sleep together til the church marriage was done! That was a worthy witness to church teachings that I have remembered.

But while I accept it is possible Arnaud & Marielle may have lived chastely for 2 years after their civil marriage prior to their forthcoming church marriage, it does stretch credibility… and is why the church teaches people should avoid creating such scandalous impressions by lengthy living in the same house before marriage.

I note Rod’s Benedict Option seems to call for people to form Christian communities precisely for the purpose of giving consistent good witness to church teachings, and not causing scandals by your teens and young adults seeing others cohabitate, and then think church sexuality teachings are optional…

None of this detracts from Arnaud’s sacrifice – he is a hero! I just asked if Christians realised the virtuous life test to be declared a saint, as some seem to want to beatify Arnaud today.

And noted the depressing observation that even our Catholic heroes who give their life, *seem* to cohabitate prior to church weddings, which gives a stunning witness to young Christians of a less charitable kind than the witness of sacrificing your life…

May Arnaud rest in peace either way, and enjoy God’s mercy and favour!

Giuseppe – Most western countries treat religious ministers as civil marriage celebrants, so the civil marriage is contracted at the end of the religious marriage service (when the couple sign the civil documents off to one side). Some nations require civil marriage first – my grandparents had to be civilly married first in Netherlands, but told their grandkids clearly they didn’t live/sleep together til the church marriage was done! That was a worthy witness to church teachings that I have remembered.

True, France is quite the exception in this respect.

But while I accept it is possible Arnaud & Marielle may have lived chastely for 2 years after their civil marriage prior to their forthcoming church marriage, it does stretch credibility… and is why the church teaches people should avoid creating such scandalous impressions by lengthy living in the same house before marriage.

Yes, and it is a wise teaching because the Church knows her sheep well. Living under the same roof is a constant temptation, and most people is not above gossip.
However, it’s not our business to determine if they lived chastely or not.
I have an example in my own friends’ circle of a couple who cohabited a long time before getting married because of housing arrangement issues, but who lived chastely before marriage, as both of them were committed Catholics. The male fiancé used to complain jokingly with us about the hardships his wife-to-be was subjecting him to.

Thanks Giuseppe, but perhaps I deserved the accusations! I am feeling a bit embarrassed, and wish to apologise to Arnaud’s memory & to Marielle, as it appears I was wrong to infer they were cohabitating…

A LifeSiteNews article makes clear Arnaud & Marielle civilly married precisely for the type of reason Giuseppe suggested – so Arnaud would be eligible to be posted to the same area as Marielle lived. Not so they could live in sin.

So, my sincere apologies for creating a disturbance online unnecessarily – the points about virtuous life being required for saints and not causing scandal may be true, but do not appear to apply to Arnaud & Marielle. I’m sorry to have implied they may do.

A cautionary tale against trusting initial media reports, though the blame lies solely with me for not holding my tongue/keyboard until sufficient facts were made available…

And Giuseppe’s anecdote about his engaged friend’s living under the one roof chastely for housing reasons proves it can be done.

I was perhaps feeling a bit sensitive at the time of Arnaud’s sacrifice, after hearing & reading about so many Christians casually ignoring church teachings on sex, marriage & cohabitation. Sorry to all for causing a fuss!

Hello all. I’am a French friend of Rod’s with a mil background (and he’ll recognize me at this). Let me say two things: first, as a Frenchman – the evening LCL Beltrame was showed mil funeral respects, I went to my local pub in the 15th in Paris and to cut it short, had to handle a high-ranking officer (also a local pub-goer) who was in a state of shock. of utter shock. And you’d be surprised to know how deep the cut was in our national moral fiber. It hit hard. Pray for us, that’s the only attitude valid to us French Christians. We joke, we have a quiet drink, but heavens, it ain’t easy. We’re a country at war with a population that doesn’t get it but feels for it (Algeria 1958, anyone?). it’s hard for me to convey how stubborn we are (honestly? another one will rise, death is just a thing to pass). The French officers’ outlook on life ain’t changing. hero, no hero, I don’t know. Duty followed, duty served. A nos morts !